Mexico’s September 5th draw away to Costa Rica drew 2.7 million viewers on Telemundo’s networks, beating out Mexico’s Confederations Cup Group Stage match against Portugal to become the most-watched soccer game on Telemundo in 2017. The United States’ match against Honduras drew a combined 531,000 viewers on beIN Sports and NBC Universo.
MLS continued to struggle for viewers over the weekend as the NFL season kicked off. Four games were broadcast across the networks from all three of the leagues television partners last weekend, averaging 168,000 viewers, a 12% drop from 191,000 viewers on the NFL’s opening weekend of 2016. The drop is not too dissimilar from the 4% decrease in viewership the league has already seen this year.
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) also took a significant hit to viewership this week with the match between Kansas City FC and the Chicago Red Stars that got just half the viewers of last week’s meeting between the Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit. The match ranks as the league’s second least-watched match on Lifetime in 2017.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for September 5-10, 2017:
| Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/5/17 | CONCACAF WCQ | Costa Rica / Mexico | —; — | Telemundo; 2700000 | 2,700,000 |
| 2 | 9/9/17 | Liga MX | América / Veracruz | Univision; 749000 | UDN; 469000 | 1,218,000 |
| 3 | 9/9/17 | Liga MX | Pachuca / Chivas | Univision; 740000 | UDN; 431000 | 1,171,000 |
| 4 | 9/9/17 | Premier League | Man Utd / Stoke City | NBC; 876000 | Unvso; 70000 | 946,000 |
| 5 | 9/5/17 | CONCACAF WCQ | Honduras / USMNT | beIN; 256000 | Unvso; 275000 | 531,000 |
| 6 | 9/10/17 | Liga MX | Pumas / Tijuana | Univision; 521000 | —; — | 521,000 |
| 7 | 9/10/17 | Premier League | Swansea / Newcastle | NBCSN; 294000 | Telemundo; 215000 | 509,000 |
| 8 | 9/9/17 | La Liga | Barcelona / Espanyol | beIN; 86000 | beIE; 288000 | 374,000 |
| 9 | 9/9/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Man City | NBCSN; 329000 | Unvso; 29000 | 358,000 |
| 10 | 9/9/17 | Premier League | Arsenal / Bournemouth | NBCSN; 300000 | Unvso; 51000 | 351,000 |
| 11 | 9/10/17 | Liga MX | Santos / Toluca | —; — | UDN; 250000 | 250,000 |
| 12 | 9/10/17 | MLS | Seattle Sounders / Los Angeles Galaxy | FS1; 169000 | FOXD; 51000 | 220,000 |
| 13 | 9/10/17 | Premier League | Burnley / Crystal Palace | NBCSN; 200000 | —; — | 200,000 |
| 14 | 9/8/17 | Liga MX | Puebla / Cruz Azul | —; — | UDN; 195000 | 195,000 |
| 15 | 9/10/17 | MLS | Columbus Crew / Sporting Kansas City | ESPN; 187000 | ESPND; — | 187,000 |
| 16 | 9/9/17 | Liga MX | Querétaro / León | —; — | UDN; 180000 | 180,000 |
| 17 | 9/9/17 | MLS | Chicago Fire / New York Red Bulls | UniMás; 158000 | —; — | 158,000 |
| 18 | 9/9/17 | Premier League | Spurs / Everton | CNBC; 141000 | —; — | 141,000 |
| 19 | 9/10/17 | MLS | Atlanta United / FC Dallas | FS1; 88000 | FOXD; 21000 | 109,000 |
| 20 | 9/9/17 | Bundesliga | Freiburg / Dortmund | FS1; 87000 | FOXD; 17000 | 104,000 |
| 21 | 9/9/17 | Bundesliga | Hoffenheim / Bayern | —; — | UDN; 64000 | 64,000 |
| 22 | 9/9/17 | NWSL | Kansas City / Red Stars | Lifetime; 56000 | —; — | 56,000 |
| 23 | 9/9/17 | Liga MX | Monterrey / Necaxa | —; — | Gala; 53000 | 53,000 |
| 24 | 9/10/17 | Bundesliga | Hertha / Bremen | FS1; 32000 | FOXD; 7000 | 39,000 |
| 25 | 9/8/17 | Bundesliga | Hamburg / Leipzig | FS2; 36000 | —; — | 36,000 |
| 26 | 9/9/17 | Bundesliga | Mönchengladbach / Frankfurt | —; — | UDN; 12000 | 12,000 |
Average MLS viewing audiences on US TV:
| League | Overall* | ESPN | ESPN2 | FOX | FS1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 MLS | 249,427 (55) | 288,800 (20) | 220,000 (5) | 440,750 (4) | 193,600** (25) |
| 2016 MLS | 257,683 (63) | 290,179 (28) | 201,500 (4) | 658,000 (5) | 154,346 (26) |
| 2017 NWSL | 94,750 (20) | ||||
| 2017 USL | 19,000 (2) | *English-Only | |||
| **One game missing |
League averages this season:
| League | Viewers |
|---|---|
| EPL | 567,909 |
| Liga MX | 464,429 |
| MLS | 249,427 |
| NWSL | 94,750 |
| Bundesliga | 82,357 |
SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.
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